(Tel Aviv) Israelis took to the streets again on Saturday to protest against the government’s judicial reform, days after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced that he had abandoned a key provision of the controversial plan.
In Tel Aviv, protesters gathered like every week for several months, waving banners that read “save democracy”.
Although no participation figures were immediately released, the weekly demonstrations regularly bring together tens of thousands of people.
Formed at the end of December with the support of far-right parties and ultra-Orthodox Jewish formations, the government of Mr. Netanyahu is trying to pass a reform of the justice system aimed at increasing the power of elected officials over that of magistrates.
PHOTO TSAFRIR ABAYOV, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
The announcement of the text in January gave rise to one of the biggest protest movements in the history of Israel.
The government believes the reform is necessary to ensure a better balance of power, but its critics see it as a threat to Israeli democracy and its institutional safeguards.
In an interview with the American daily wall street journal broadcast on Thursday, Mr. Netanyahu said he had abandoned the so-called “derogation clause”, which was to allow Parliament to annul a decision of the Supreme Court by a simple majority.
This highly criticized clause was adopted at first reading by Parliament in March.
Another provision also adopted in first reading and which modifies the process of appointment of judges, is the subject of fierce disputes.
Benyamin Netanyahu, who announced a pause in the project at the end of March to allow discussions with the opposition, promised on June 18 to advance work on the reform project which deeply divides the country.
A few days earlier, the two main opposition leaders, Yaïr Lapid and Benny Gantz, had announced that they were suspending their participation in the negotiations on the reform.